I couldn't disagree more on the length of this one. I thought it felt extremely long and poorly paced diminishing the impact of the story it was trying to tell. I'll let this one sit and probably watch it again to decide, but considering it was about the Osage tribe, I felt the story was framed through the wrong lens at times. Also I hate to be that guy, but I feel like some of these older directors are stubborn in the length of their movies and even their format. I think this would have worked far better as a one and done limited series (6 episodes or so) vs a 200+ minute film. Despite doing a little TV with gangs of new york, I imagine Scorsese as stubborn these days with a 'nobody has an attention span anymore! I'll show them how movies SHOULD be made!' attitude. That would have fixed the pacing and the dramatic peaks would have hit harder as episodic moments, than they did scattered throughout the movie. RE Oscars - I am also surprised that Lily Gladstone was submitted as lead actress. She is the lead actress of the movie for sure so she fits in the category but a) I was surprised ultimately at the lesser screen time she had vs what I expected (going back to point 2 and b) it seems that she was a shoe in to win if nominated as supporting.
Scorsese doesn't have a lot of time left and you want him to make a fucking miniseries fuck off god damn it
A bit extreme, but okay. You can feel how you feel. I didn't dislike it, just my immediate reaction to the movie is mixed on if it effectively told the story it was trying to tell.
Fair point. I am sure he made the movie exactly how he wanted, with all the passion he puts into all of his projects (I am extrapolating a bit based on interview comments he's made over the recent years). So any assumed intentions (and negativity and snark) aside, I personally had issues with the pacing, length and some of the narrative structure. I'll watch it again for sure, I just didn't come out enamored with it as a moving piece of art after seeing it. There was plenty to contemplate, consider, appreciate and admire though.
Man, I feel like this earns its length more than maybe any three-plus hour movie I've seen in the past few years. A miniseries would have been much less special imo. No disrespect, but I couldn't disagree with that comment more lol
I think it worked better as a film, but I certainly could see a miniseries version that's effective. There are four sections that could theoretically work as an episode each. Episode one is getting to know the town of Gray Horse and Ernest arriving and meeting Mollie, two is their marriage and the killing of her sisters, three is the investigators showing up, then four is the trial and epilogue. It could even give some of the minor Osage characters a bottle episode or two so we can spend more time with them. However, I think the film having the investigation section be relatively quick and cut and dry is one of its most effective arcs. It was always in plain sight, so when someone finally bothered to look into it, it would obviously be solved quickly. So, yeah, in the end, I still prefer what we got. But it's definitely not some unspeakable idea.
A miniseries is not just a long movie. The narrative beats are different because your audience is digesting it in chunks.
I understand that which is why I mentioned pacing as well as length. I'm not suggesting that I have no notes besides 'double it and slice it at the hour marks into 6 / 7'. Nobody has to agree with me. Shrug.
As much as television has evolved as a medium in the last 25 years, film is still the dominant artform. Ask a bunch of television directors, writers, and actors where they want to go and see if their film equivalent wants to switch with them. Even though Scorsese is working with Apple and Netflix before that, he wants it seen on a big screen with surround sound and at least some social pressure to stay off your phone and to pay attention. Barry Jenkins released a masterpiece that won all sorts of film awards and then his great mini-series was buried and forgotten. When I think of Scorsese's longer films, they tend to be about events and people that are on the fringes. Obviously Jesus and the Dalai Lama are huge, but I am talking about things like Silence or Raging Bull or Goodfellas or Killers of the Flower Moon. Who even knew of the event, especially before the book? While it would be nice to imagine otherwise, this is probably the most exposure the incident will ever get, so why not make it epic in length and scope? It is almost like the definitive history in this way, especially as the money to make a film like this gets rarer each day. This would all be academic if the film wasn't actually good, but it felt pretty brisk and thrilling despite the length. If he does indulge somewhat, why not? This is the sunset of the master's career. How many of the greats were still relevant at this age? The jury is still out on Megalopolis and Coppola, but most have faded into irrelevancy. Steven Spielberg, the architect of the blockbuster, can't sell tickets anymore. Quentin Tarantino plans to leave soon. Nolan and Villeneuve are the younger filmmakers who have that sort of name recognition, but after that it is a lot of people who still need to release in limited screens and ride word-of-mouth. Every thing we get from Scorsese at this point is an unearned gift. Make the movie 10 hours long!
Cannot imagine any part of this movie where id be fine stopping and waiting another week to keep going. What.
That is why I usually wait until a show is over until I start it. If a narrative is good I want to keep going.
I walked into a 9pm showing of this movie on very little sleep and had a mini crisis about how the heck I was gonna sit in a 3 1/2 hour movie. Still didn't feel the length. Like, at all. And I admittedly had trouble finishing The Irishman.
Saw this tonight. My mom’s side is Native, so seeing ANY sort of representation is huge. Wife and I read the book shortly after the film was announced so we were stoked to see it come to life on the screen and have others learn this horrific piece of American history. While I enjoyed the film and the performances, I can’t help but feel absolutely anxious now. The casual nature of the conspiracy truly chilled me to the bone and the repetitive nature of the the first 2 hours feeling like “who we killing next?” conversations over and over again (note: NOT a complaint, I understand that’s how it went down and we only see the conspirator’s side) started to weigh me down, but that means I was enthralled not bored. The last hour when the Bureau showed to the heartbreaking teleplay at the end was definitely my favorite part. This is a great movie that I will probably never watch again.